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Ventricular fibrillation facts for kids

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Ventricular fibrillation (often called VF or V-Fib) is a serious problem with how the heart beats. Normally, your heart beats in a steady rhythm. But with VF, the heart beats in a very fast and uncontrolled way.

What is Ventricular Fibrillation?

When someone has ventricular fibrillation, their heart does not beat in a regular pattern. Instead, it just quivers or twitches very quickly. It's like a bag of worms instead of a strong pump.

This problem affects the heart's ventricles. These are the two large, lower chambers of the heart. Their main job is to pump blood to your lungs and the rest of your body. Blood carries important oxygen to all your organs.

When the ventricles quiver, they cannot pump blood properly. This means your brain, lungs, and other organs don't get enough blood or oxygen.

Ventricular fibrillation is a very serious medical emergency. Without enough blood and oxygen, your body's parts cannot survive. If VF continues, blood stops moving around your body. Your breathing and heart will stop. This can lead to death very quickly if not treated.

How Doctors Treat VF

Ventricular fibrillation can often be stopped by giving the person an electric shock. This shock comes from a special machine called a defibrillator. The shock helps reset the heart's electrical activity.

If a defibrillator is not nearby, CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) should be started right away. CPR helps keep blood flowing to the brain and other organs. This buys time until an ambulance arrives or a defibrillator can be used.

Doctors or paramedics can also give special medicines. These are called anti-arrhythmic medicines. They can help the heart start beating normally again. Some common ones are amiodarone and lidocaine.

If a person with VF gets treatment quickly, it works very well. For example, if treated right away, it works for 9 out of 10 people. But the chance of success goes down every minute. So, getting help as fast as possible is extremely important. CPR can help keep the person alive until proper treatment arrives.

For people who are likely to have VF again, a special device can be put into their chest. A surgeon does this operation. This device is called an "implantable cardioverter-defibrillator" (ICD). If the person's heart goes into VF, the ICD will automatically give it an electric shock. This helps bring the heart back to a normal rhythm.

Images for kids

  • UOTW 37 - Ultrasound of the Week 2

    Fine ventricular fibrillation as seen on a rhythm strip

  • Lead II rhythm generated ventricular fibrilation VF

    Ventricular fibrillation as seen in lead II

  • Cardiac myofiberbreak-up -- very high mag

    Micrograph showing myofibre break-up with squared nuclei, a morphologic correlate of ventricular fibrillation. H&E stain.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Fibrilación ventricular para niños

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